We’re on a
kick with Power Rangers, aren’t we? And this is what it’s been building towards.
There’s
been an odd trend that of Hollywood trying to make uber-serious versions of otherwise silly franchises. The worst
of these was Fant4stic which managed to be dark, boring, completely
non-nonsensical and somehow dumber than the movies it was supposed be more serious
than.
But the
truth is, there’s nothing wrong with a light-hearted tone, as long as the
serious moments are taken seriously. A good example of this done effectively is
Spider-man Homecoming, which I will probably get to next year. Although most of the Marvel movies are a good example of
how to do this right.
Here’s the
thing though. Power Rangers, in spite of some serious ideas, is an inherently
silly show. Especially during the Mighty Morphin Era which this movie is
attempting to re-tell. Whilst I can at least understand the potential of a dark
Fantastic 4 (that doesn’t mean I think it’s a good idea) I don’t really see
what can be accomplished with doing the same to Power Rangers.
But here
we are, and it’s another of 2017’s franchise ‘failures?’, boy there’ve been a
few of those this year. It made only $142m on a $100m budget. Factoring in
marketing and theatre cuts that’s a net loss for the studio. Fortunately, the
one thing Power Rangers is usually good at is selling toys and it’s no exception
here, it’s also apparently made a decent amount in DVD sales. I don’t see a sequel as
likely but it’s apparently not beyond the realm of plausibility, unlike
*cough*Fant4stic*cough*
But that
said, Power Rangers struck an interesting chord with me, I actually kinda liked
it, and I’m far from alone, this has a 45% Rotten Tomatoes rating which, whilst
far from good, indicates at least mixed reception. So here is my take on the
movie.
